Air Serbia’s Boeings to keep flying

New charter airline in the works

Air Serbia’s aging Boeing fleet will stay in the skies for at least another summer season and will be utilised for charter flights. In January 2014 the Serbian government will decide whether to create a new charter airline which would operate the Boeing 737-300s as well as Aviogenex’s sole B737-200. The government believes it would profit from such a venture with the airline to employ former Jat Airways staff. However, such a decision will be made in cooperation with Air Serbia over the following months in order for the new charter airline to take off next summer.

Air Serbia will phase out all of its Boeing aircraft, most of which are now over 25 years old, on scheduled passenger flights by April 2014. However, during the week, the airline officially confirmed it will utilise three of its youngest Boeings for summer charters next year. The aircraft will be in a high density, all economy class layout, with tour operators to be given the freedom to decide on how the aircraft will be branded.

If a new charter airline is created it is likely to be operated under the name Aeromak, which is a Macedonian subsidiary of Serbia’s former national carrier Jat Airways. Jat attempted to launch flights out of Macedonia under the Aeromak name several years ago but was not granted a license by Macedonian authorities. The CEO of Niš Airport in eastern Serbia, Dragan Bugarinović, has previously said his airport would play a central role in Aeromak’s development. This winter the airport has been left without a single flight following Montenegro Airlines’ suspension of its Podgorica - Niš service.

Meanwhile, Aviogenex’s B737-200, which operated flights for Jat over the summer months, is now in Benin in Africa with Serbian crew operating flights on behalf of Westair Benin. The aircraft is set to return to Serbia by the start of next year’s summer season. The government believes the creation of a new charter airline would also put an end to Aviogenex’s problems.

Comments

  1. Anonymous09:19

    Serbia just love their Boeing 737-300's!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Like USA LOVES B707 (Awacs) and B52......made in 1952.

      Delete
  2. Nikola09:19

    but why under name Aeromak? why can't AGX fly the charters? why can't State transfer ownership of AGX to JU, so AGX becomes JU's daughter company for charters? AGX should leave their 732 in Benin, and operate summer flights with 733s. over the time, when JU gets new planes, some of the 319s should be transfered to AGX for charter flights (and, why not, low cost operations out of INI)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JATBEGMEL12:56

      AGX according to the Serbian Business Registry states that AGX is 100% owned by 'KOMPANIJA INTERNATIONAL CG ZA MEĐUNARODNU I UNUTRAŠNJU TRGOVINU, HOTELIJERSTVO, UGOSTITELJSTVO I VAZDUŠNI SAOBRAĆAJ DP, BEOGRAD (GRAD)- U RESTRUKTURIRANJU' (Maticni br: 17230999)

      This can be confirmed on the registry site: apr.gov.rs

      Considering its a private company, I dont see why the Serbian government would donate it ac. They never assisted Centavia while it was flying, so I dont see why theyre interested in heping AGX. Further more, AGX was looking into brining a B734 into their fleet a year or 2 ago as well as a rebranding of their ac, which of course never happened.

      Article 78.3 in the Serbian Air Traffic Law states that an airline to be registered in the Republic of Serbia must have at least 1 aircraft. What is keeping AGX registered in Serbia is YU-ANP who I doubt can be allowed to fly much longer in European airspace.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous13:06

      The Problem is Internacional CG is bankrupt and owes gazillions to BEG Airport, Jat/Air Serbia, the government and so on. These little jobs they do is only enough to pay the small number of staff still working at the company and maintenance for the aircraft.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous16:50

      Internacional CG is Genex successor company. They have around 200m euros cash on hands atm, you can check their financial reports on APR. They sold their Kopaonik and Belgrade assets and are now a basically zombie firm.

      Delete
  3. I really hope that the government gives up on the idea of creating a charter airline of any sort. They have proven how (in)competent they are in running an aviation business over the last decade. In my opinion, this charter airline should only go through if Air Serbia wants to run it. Otherwise it will be just become another funding mechanism for the government.

    As for the B737-300s, which ones are we talking about? The youngest three are:

    1. YU-ANW, del. 25.03.1988
    2. YU-ANV, del. 21.03.1988
    3. YU-ANL, del. 26.11.1987

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aэrologic12:34

      YU-ANJ seems to be in excellent condition, recently refurbished.

      Delete
    2. JATBEGMEL13:03

      This government is the only one in decades who has actually done something possitive to the aviation industry of Serbia by selling off 49% of Jat Airways to Etihad. Regarding Jat, this government seems to be doing a fantastic job and if it wasnt for them we wouldnt have Air Serbia we see today,

      Now if Air Serbia did form another airline, or buy into another airline, it would do so with the know how of Dane Kondic who has done a fantastic job with Air Serbia in all aspects. The progress is tremendous considering it all started a couple of months ago. Currently I dont think its a good idea, Air Serbia should stand on its feet first at least a year, bring a profit and expand more and then look at expansion.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous23:17

      +1

      Delete
    4. The reason why this government is doing a great job with Jat is because they are staying away from it thus allowing professionals to do their job. By creating some new airline with the old Boeing fleet they will do just the opposite. That's why I am against this proposal.

      Delete
    5. YU-ANJ could be considered "the youngest" for the simple reason it was mostly stored for almost 8 years in Istanbul. It flew briefly for the short-lived Bosphorus Airlines as TC-MIO, then was stored until May 2000 when it was returned to Jat. It was then checked and refurbished in cooperation with Boeing, as this was a pretty unique case of an aircraft being withdrawn from use for such a long time. That's also one of the reasons it "looks good".

      Delete
  4. Anonymous09:44

    There we go! JAT Airways was to be dissolved to a) minimize the influence sate apparchiks and party cronies b) to stop bleeding tax payers money. Now all the staff that did not pass the Etihad quality tests and all the "drugovi" will be employed by the new state-owned charter company! I guess the first year of ops will show a high double digit million € loss....and the vicious serbian circle of corruption, missmanagement and family business closes again. Unbelievable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hahah I would not worry too much about it. The Serbian government has issued a budget proposal for 2014 and there is a deficit of around 1 billion Euros. They might be making grand plans now but I am almost certain they will fall apart when the costs are presented and when the government will actually have to foot the bill.

      Delete
    2. JATBEGMEL13:12

      The staff who didnt go onto Air Serbia were layed off with redundency packages. Jat Airways had a massive crew surplus and needed to lay off a good amount of staff to function more profitably. Jat staff have been nothing but amazing on all of my flights, I love them alot, and considering the crap they have gone through the past 20 years, i have ALOT of sympathy towards them. They knew their aircraft blindfolded, stayed loyal to the airline through sanctions and months without pay, or full pay. Not their fault that many government officials mismanaged the airline for their benefit. I never voted for SNS, but they have done a fantastic job with the now rebranded Air Serbia.

      Delete
    3. @JATBEGMEL Agreed! It is not the workers, but the people at the top that were the issue. That is where you had friends and family getting jobs they were unqualified for and that took five people to do the job of one. I wouldn't be surprised if they hired a whole bunch of management to "research possibilities" and get paid handsomely for it while in the end no results are had.

      Delete
  5. Probably it is really not important which are the youngest (when only a few months or max 2 years is difference) but which are in good condition. For me the aircraft ANJ seemed like new one this spring... I hope they keep it :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:00

      Well, in Jat's case two years can be a lot of time since the planes have been flying for roughly 28 years now. It all depends on the cycles and looking at their age, a year can make a difference.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:46

      I am not sure, but if I remember correctly YU-ANJ was seized by the Turkish government because they had the opinion a part of JAT's fleet should belong to Bosnia and therefore it was grounded in IST for a couple of years

      Delete
    3. Anonymous15:30

      What a nice idea by the Turks...
      Maybe Serbia should have confiscated Turkish Airlines aircraft?!
      Maybe there could be people in Serbia that think a part of TKs fleet should belong to a freee Kurdish state.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous23:52

      That is absolutely same situation... every and each time you impress me!

      Delete
  6. Anonymous10:03

    Ex emplyees and politicians have to work somewhere. On the account of serbian tax payors, of course. Another financial disaster in sight!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous10:05

    If they etablish this airline under the name aeromak they could use OHD as their hub for charter flights and base at least one aircraft over the summer season there... they can easily fly out of Ohrid to bring tourists from Belgrade, Moscow, Amsterdam, Brussel, Ljubijana, Warsaw, Copenhagen, Munich, Prague and so on they just have to promote it right...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:08

      Little edit:

      I am pretty sure that Ohrid and Struga will subsidize these charter flights to bring tourists from all over europe

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:10

      Well, they have already offered to subsidise Air Serbia's flights out of Ohrid so I see no reason why they wouldn't pay for Aeromak. Better them than Wizz Air.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:15

      Anything is better than JAT leftovers in Ohrid.

      Macedonians are wise to go for a proven and mutually beneficial model like Wizz Air's.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous10:56

      No, it's not. What do you think, that Wizz Air will stay in both SKP and OHD the moment subsidies run out?! Do you honestly believe that successive governments will be able to afford paying for them to stay?! No way.

      What will happen is that thanks to the taxpayers, they got to check out the market and when they no longer receive their cash they will launch the profitable routes with aircraft based around Europe. Wake up, it's time we realize what kind of airline Wizz Air is.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:00

      Wrong and wrong.

      There is neither proof that this has ever happened with Wizz Air, unlike Ryanair, nor is it likely to happen.

      I see you have an agenda, but it's a pretty hollow one. Much like JAT's business model.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:05

      What's my agenda? That I want to have decent airlines flying out of my airport without paying subsidies?! Yeah, I am totally crazy.

      The reason why this has not happened with Wizz Air is pretty much because they had not come face to face with any serious foreign carrier- primarily because they have been operating across eastern Europe. The first country where this will happen is in Poland where Ryanair is reluctant to give up. Also, you can't compare the two ultra lowcost carriers, FR is much bigger, aggressive and older. We can speak in five years when their operations in SKP will be much smaller thanks to stupid government agenda. Don't get blinded by the passenger number, it's a fragile strategy.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous12:39

      Wait and see. Wizz gets subsidies only for the 6 original destinations launched in November 2012. Basel/Mulhouse, Malmö, Dortmund, Eindhoven, Bergamo and Memmingen.
      Treviso, Luton, Skävsta, Göteborg and the new destinations from Summer 2014 (Charleroi, Hahn and Beauvais) are not getting subsidies at all. Wizz Air is a true success at Skopje and it will expand even more in the future.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous13:43

      Macedonia should not mingle with a falling apart Aeromak especially not giving them subsidizes.
      First OHD doesn't need charter flights, it has already - TUI Fly, Arkefly, Correndon, Jet Airfly which operate cost efficient with new B738 or B739;
      What OHD needs is Wizz Air or Ryanair connecting it with Europe during summer months.
      About subsidies: If you ever got an insight- W6 flights out of SKP are always fully packed and subsidies are only a joke compared to the other incomes. Besides that only 6 destinations were subsidised. Other 7 destinations not.
      And last but not least: Why giving subsidies to an airline that doesn't employ locals and doesn't pay taxes here?!

      Delete
    9. Anonymous15:24

      Agree with the first sentence.
      About the last sentence:
      If you pay subsidies to Wizz you also have to pay subsidies to all others or they will leave.
      So you end up now with also Air Serbia getting paid for flying to Ohrid.
      Subsidies for Wizzair are also only a joke compared to the ones paid to all the other airlines.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous11:11

    if checz republic has flights from brno and ostrava, hungary from debrecin, bulgaria from plovdiv, bosnia from tuzla, mostar and banja luka, slovakia from kosice, not to mention poland and romania, why serbia wouldnt have flights from another city??? its really weird!!! at least two destinations such as zurich and vienna. i really cannot understand it. is it politics or empty planes? i understand that plane is gonna be empty on route to trieste or forli, but how is it possible there is not enough people on 4pw to zurich or 3pw to vienna, munchen etc... i would like somebody to explain to me this fact!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:14

      Well, Nis was linked with Switzerland some time ago when that airline flew with its SAAB. I think the loads were not that spectacular.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:27

      The loads were great if you considered that the cheapest return ticket was CHF 395! Cheapest one way was CHF 250! The cheapest!!!

      Between 22nd December 2012 and 10th January 2013 the Saab 2000 was more than 90% full!

      Delete
    3. Nikola11:30

      of course they weren't when price was 300+€. INI-ZRH with both JU and YM back in the days were filled (lf was 60+%)

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:33

      but what about vienna or some german cities? if there were 12pax on montenegro daily flights, like they said, why not 40pax on flights to vienna (4 times pw) or even 50 on munchen 3pw? who ever researched the market in souther serbia? can somebody take some analysis how many people from serbia used sofias airport and why not some questionnaire in belgrade airport? i mean its not that hard, there are many of them who work in germany and austria or switzerland and sweden.. there shouldnt be a problem to realize flights from nis to germany or austria. i dont believe that people from south do not use airplanes to travel.. maybe at least 100.000 of them are flying, if tickest cost from beg-bnx is 88e, as could make something like ini-vie for 99e by atr and 4pw could be full full!!! all those things about nis sound like high science, like some mathematical methods...

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:45

      I guess you shouldn't compare 40 000 000 people living in Poland which is few times bigger than Serbia or any other exYU country... Of course there should be flights from Nis and maybe one more airport should be built, but please, dont compare small and closed market to bigger ones which is also a member of EU...I'm huge fan of Serbia and ExYU region, I'm crossing my fingers for aviation develompment there, but guys...

      Delete
    6. I totally agree with you, better to make INI works than to wait till it dies...some more efforts should be make and heal this nice airport and make it profitable...If i was CEO of Air Serbia i will put one ATR in INI and make first step.....I live in Belgrade but i would always pay 60-70 Euros to fly to INI.Sometimes in business you need to risk and try , not to sit and think what would happen if something went bad...

      Delete
    7. Sloba11:59

      I fear, that at the moment, the only (sustainable) direct routes from INI are ZRH and maybe ARN. I'm making a study about air transport between Serbia and Switzerland and if there is potential for more.

      Delete
    8. JATBEGMEL13:24

      Jat a couple of years ago was willing to operate out of Nis with 10 seats sold to Vienna, Stutgart and Dusseldorf, but Vienna for example barely sold 6 seats and in the end had to cancel Nis,

      If Air Serbia does fly from Nis, I wouldnt be surprised it be a BEG-INI-ZRH flight that would somehow bring pax to BEG to connect to other Air Serbia flights, and ZRH to Air Berlin and partner airlines connections.

      Delete
    9. Anonymous16:18

      This is no truth at all. Jat has never operated those flights due to the lack of aircrafts in the time. All passangers were transported by bus from NIs airport to Belgrade to their flights. INI-ZRH-INI were one of the most profitable flights of MGX, until they been canceled due to break of Serbia and Montenegro state union. jat had never success on this route due to very offten cancelations of the flights.
      I do agree Nis needs no bigger aircraft then AT72 operating few European destination for now.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous11:29

    We dont need your staro gvozdje

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And Air Serbia does not need Aeromak as well

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:02

      People are overestimating the FYROM market, it's not that big and the yields are not high. The Serbian government should just give up on this idea and let Air Serbia do its thing. I am sure that JU will further expand into both SKP and OHD.

      Delete
    3. JATBEGMEL13:32

      I dont understand your comment considering that other Macedonian airline companies (MAT, Avioimpex, MAT Airways and Palair) all had old aircraft flying from their bases. Aeromak based in Skoplje would be a good thing when managed similar to Air Serbia. Jobs for Macedonians, more connections ex SKP, income for SKP.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous14:01

      @ Anonymus 12:02 Yes yes overestimating... 37% growth in Oct. Tell ke how much was at BP*?
      Btw. The time when JU could have pisitioned itself in Macedonia is over. And what cost model would offer these B733? For sure not a competitive one. And about the fleets of former macedonian airlines: MAT had a brand new CRJ900, Palair brand new Fokkers 100; Avioimpex MD-81/83 were 10 years old in the nineties when ist was operating.

      * states for Beogradski pashaluk

      Delete
    5. Anonymous18:03

      This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
    6. Glupi Balkanci18:25

      This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous18:44

      37% growth and you still did not manage to pass 100,000 passengers in October. That proves my point of how significant the market is. I rest my case.

      Delete
  10. That is what i meant, Air Serbia should expand to Macedonian market but as AS, not via daughter company...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:15

      Exactly. Let them link both Ohrid and Skopje via its hub in Belgrade. It's far easier and costs less money.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous16:16

      Yes, all those Macedonians and Albanians in FYROM are just being crazy about "Air Serbia" to opperate direct routs from Skoplje and Ohrid. Not to speak about Montenegrins, Bosniaks, Croats in the region.

      People in Serbia comming on this forum, wanted a chetnik branding more than anything, to narrow minded to think about the consequences, about the shrinking of the market, of possible actions. The region is indeed desparate for a regional carrier, but with national branding, OU, JU and YM may just dream about the regional base expansion. Nothing bad for YM or OU - those were companies branded in the national era of air space. But the "Air Serbia" branding of JU in the 2013 - it´s just silly and unrpofessional.

      Yes, I know, I did say this already more than once. Like in every subject there are some things that appropriate to be said whenever we object a new consequence of the concept.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous17:37

      ^ Okay,but why does Ohrid want to pay "Air Chetnik" for flying to Belgrade although they easily could say NO to them and save the money?!
      Now thats something i would want to hear from you.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous17:46

      Again story about how Air Serbia name is wrong? And that is OK, that can be repeat, but every day delay of Air Serbia is forbidden!

      Delete
    5. Anonymous17:59

      I guess Air Serbia's 12% passenger growth in the first six days of winter is the best proof of how its name is hurting it. ;)
      We are finally an independent state and if Serbs want to be associated with Chetniks then it's our God given right. Give us a break, Yugoslavia is long gone.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous18:48

      Air Serbia wrong name?

      Again... about something you can wright, but about something else you can not.

      And 12% growth on 30% more seats is not good! and by that argument than something is wrong. For sure not name!

      Delete
    7. Anonymous18:50

      ...but we don't have right to write about that on this blog...

      Delete
    8. No need for a Broadway drama, really. Just because Ex-YU once felt annoyed and removed some comments, does not mean you cannot publicly expose the great illusion called Air Serbia. I say write about it and see what happens.

      The only thing is, since your comments leave zero chance Air Serbia is anything more than one huge, miserable fail, why not simply waiting for the company to imminently fall apart soon and then come here to claim a well-deserved credit? I will be the first one to applaude.

      I mean, instead of crying over dark forces that stop you from spreading the truth about the greatest illusion in the history of commercial aviation, why don't you simply write about it and see if your rights would be violated or not?

      Delete
    9. Anonymous23:57

      You know that I don't thing Air Serbia is illusion. Many times I wrote here that Air Serbia is huge project much bigger than Serbia and even region. Many times... but that does not mean we should watch that company throw pink glasses. If you want well to Air Serbia you have to tell what is wrong and to force changes to make it better. If not we will have Jat again here in Serbia. And sure we don't want that.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous17:09

      We should make a difference: the reconstruction of JU, leasing of A319, hiring and training of young stuff, new cattering, new partnership approach. All those aspects are greate and something of which every country and nation would be proud. But instead of letting Mr Kondic live up and out his nationalistic illusions from Austrialia, far far away from the Balkan realitiy, all those measures could have be delayed for few months and connected with some sociological and professional approach to the market, which would not end up in a orthodox priest being a only hope for the profite. A national branding of the company in a 6 M inhabitantss state, in the second decade of the 21 century, which is expected to bring a profit and not just to fly around as "national kitchen and brand", it has nothing to do with a professionalism.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous22:36

      Ignorant and malicious in two words! In all your hatred spewing rush always forgetting to check your spelling somehow. Grow up and get over it! ;-)

      Delete
  11. Anonymous12:13

    We don't need your olovo-rich grozdje :p

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:18

      Looking at your passenger numbers, I think you could use any kind of metal, young or old.

      Delete
    2. Nije olovo nego cink, jos otrovnije..:)

      Delete
  12. Anonymous13:59

    The only good solution is to sell the aircraft.
    B&H could buy the best of the bunch for little money and maintenance in Belgrade...
    We all hear that they need an plane with at least hundred seats for opening flights to Germany and Scandinavia.
    But it always failed because they lacked the money.
    I think Air Serbia could make them a very good offer.

    ReplyDelete
  13. "Ageing" is the preferred spelling outside North America.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. B52 still fly

      Delete
    2. Honestly, I don't get your comment?

      Delete
    3. Aaah, I see now, it's related to the first comment way above :)
      Yes, they still fly.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous18:23

    A319 starts with flights to Denmark and Netherlands tomorrow, i think for first time.

    I do not dare to ask anything about A319 flights to Germany and France...and Russia?!??!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous21:26

      The problem is that just YU-APC is flying everywhere. Second one, still flies just to AUH...
      I don't know till when this will be and why is there such a delay with putting that plane into regular service.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous21:52

      Well, according to beg.aero there are two A319 flights departing 10 minutes apart from each other tomorrow. They are Copenhagen and Amsterdam.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous18:42

    http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Drustvo/418537/Ministar-za-komunikacije-BiH-Srpska-kontrola-letenja-najmodernija-u-regionu

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous18:46

    What happened to Air Serbias codeshare with Air Berlin
    on German routes???
    They seem to be suspended...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous18:54

      Nooooo..... that can not be true... everything must be pinky here! And we will have intercontinental flights in cooperation with Air Berlin from Belgrade next year... for sure you are not right!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous18:58

      Ooooh why don't you calculate all the delays Air Serbia had today since your life is so emptyyyyyyy (@ last anonymous).

      Delete
    3. Milojko19:02

      So you know the answer on code share or not?

      Two weeks ago everything was flashing JAT Airways in Berlin.

      On the name of Air Serbia, seriously guys, give it a break. Why would people fly in the airplane where it is written AirSerbia?

      Do they fly Montenegro Airlines, Croatia Airlines? Seriously what is wrong being Serbian?

      Why it is forbidden to say Yes we are Serbia, we are Serbs, we welcome people, we invite them...

      Delete
    4. Anonymous21:22

      Everything is pretty good with AirSerbia/AirBerlin codeshares, thank you for asking. You can find all of them on www.airberlin.com

      Delete
    5. Anonymous21:56

      Belgrade airport website does not list the codeshares with Air Berlin on their arrivals/departure site...

      Delete
    6. Anonymous09:24

      Their problem ;-)

      Delete
  17. Anonymous20:41

    Air Serbias name has never been its problem...
    The problem were its mass of delays in the last week.
    But it seems to me that the situation is improving.
    Dont judge the day before evening!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous00:04

      Better? Today also all flights were late. All!!! The worst one LHR 47 minutes.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:36

      Chill a bit. Up to 15 minutes is not considered a delay, above that is. Some flights are late,yes, but it will get fixed soon.

      Delete
  18. Purger00:37

    This weekend I am in Belgrade, and next one again. So, I will be working days in Zagreb, and weekends in Belgrade, something Belgrade tourism board dream about :-) For sure I will visit Belgrade Airport to see Air Serbia.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous01:38

    You are welcome Purgeru !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Purger01:51

      Thanks!

      In last two years I was more in Serbia than in Germany or Italy. :-)

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:11

      Well, we are not complaining! :)

      Delete
  20. Anonymous08:20

    When is the third A319 coming in service? Maybe not a bad idea to keep one B737 as reserve plane that can jump into service when some AC goes unplanned out of service. By the way does anyone know what are they doing to get a better punctuality? this is not improving and still many flights are delayed out of Beg... this requires some action ASAP!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:10

      Well, this morning most flights departed with a 10 to 20 minute delay which is not bad. The only one which was really delayed was Paris but I get a feeling it's not because of a lack of catering trucks but because of Jat's old aircraft which are getting less and less reliable.Even though it's YU-AOV which is 'only' 21 years old, we don't really know in what state the aircraft is, especially since it was parked for a long time.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous19:58

      Air Serbia timetable
      Nov 8th 2013: Nearly perfect
      Nov 9th 2013: Almost the same as the previous day, excluding Amsterdam and Paris.

      The 30 minute delay recorded cannot be indicator of some serious technical problems and I find that the conclusion "aircraft is less and less reliable" could be result of personal bias and/or ignorance. I would not be surprised to read such headline in yellow press.

      Regarding the aircraft age, just a piece of information: average age of BA fleet is nearly 14 years.
      There cannot be any doubt that BA fleet is in regular condition (read technically perfect!).
      Regards

      Delete
    3. Anonymous21:36

      Very soon, I have heard a new AS aircraft will land at beg until the next weekend. A320.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous00:02

      My whole point was not against Air Serbia, I was merely referring to the fact that as your certain fleet ages the planes become less and less reliable. That's what is happening with the old B737-300s. The two aircraft that came from Bulgaria were stored for quite some time which doesn't help either. The reason why the flight to Paris was delayed could have been that there was a last minute technical problem with the bird.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:42

      ANI was planned but had to replaced with AOV. Anyhow, I think AS needs at least 5 airbusies to start function smoothly. According to plans 6 will be until the end of this year. So everything is on plan schedule, of course everybody hopes that boings will cover this period without causing big problems

      Delete
    6. Anonymous20:30

      I was the flight to Paris yesterday. We left the gate and while we were still on the tarmac the captain announced that we have to go back to the gate due to a small technical problem. We boarded another plane, the leased one, which has seats so closely packed that I couldn't sit normally and I'm not very tall (5'11"). It was one of the least comfortable flights I've ever been on.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous12:06

      Very soon A6-EIE and A6-EID operates on behalf of AirSERBIA

      Delete
  21. Anonymous08:43

    Second A319 is flying to AMS as I speak now.YU APC is heading for Copenhagen.I guess YU APA is used for more than AUH,which is good

    ReplyDelete
  22. Coma23:41

    Accoarding to Planespotters.net database, it says that third A319 is stored from 6. November (which I guess means delivered) to Air Serbia. I'm wondering if anbody has any information about that?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous23:58

      If the information is correct, the it should be entering regular service any day now.

      Delete
  23. http://cam3.zurich-airport.com/snap.cgi?l=5&r=1

    -APC @ ZRH right now...

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous18:10

    Why today Air Serbia cancelled flight BEG-AUH ?

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous20:08

    Today, Air SERBIA held a press conference in Banjaluka in order to promote its BEG - BNX - BEG flights starting from 1th of December 2013.
    Some local TV stations have covered the conference.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous20:16

    Have you noticed that the AM return JU flight AUH-BEG today was cancelled?. Respectively today the 17:10 JU flight from Beg to AUH was cancelled too. What is going wrong with Air Serbia after such a glamoureous start?? Another hitch is the FF program...if you fly JU the miles do not get credited automatically to the EtihadGuest FF program.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous21:06

    Sometime, too much of optimism isn't good.
    Business isn't what one would like to but what one has to.
    For sure, the company has to adopt to the market.
    Air SERBIA announced it was going have everyday flights to BNX using 65 seat airliner.
    It would be much better option if it were a 44 seat ATR42-500 instead of ATR72.
    In my opinion, Air SERBIA should sell one of its ATR72 and buy one ATR42-500. The plane would nicely cover LJU. BNX, INI etc..
    At any rate, I do not expect more than 25 passengers to and from BNX on average.
    Whenever the booking comes to low figures on any flight to any of the airports from Ex-Yu region, an ATR42-500 would do the job nicely, saving the fuel and landing costs.
    The company would alternate those ATR72 and their brand new ATR42-500.
    It could be used for some charter flights too from the mentioned airports.

    BL1

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous21:08

      Sorry for "adopt" instead of "adapt".
      BL1

      Delete
    2. I agree with you. Maybe they are expecting too much from BNX. But, how economical is to buy a/c and to serve only one or two routes with it? Maybe for the summer season and flights to Croatian coast. I don't know. There are many things on pro and many things on cons side. But I think they will never acquire so small a/c.

      One aircraft like ATR42 can be dedicated to two routes (BNX & LJU) and occasionally to third. It all depends on the departure times. Don't you think that LJU is bigger market? How big are loads for Adra? I guess loads will be better for AirSERBIA because of the possibility to tranfer.

      For every second I think more about this, more ideas come to my mind.

      Delete
  28. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous13:27

    In mu humble opinion, Adria Airways wants to get rid of its CRJ-200 not because of its need for much bigger a/c but economy.
    (18.5mil US$ for CRJ-200 vs 12.5 million US$ for ATR42, 0.34km/litre for CRJ-200 vs 0.46km/litre for ATR42).

    ZAG is pretty close to Slovenia so they can get there by car, bus or sth. And both VIE and ZRH are very good hubs as well. So I wouldn’t count much on transfer passengers from LJU.

    INI – BNX – MUC or sth – BNX – INI would work with ATR42-500 too.

    BL1

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Is ATR42 really consuming more fuel than CRJ-200? And yes, I agree that Adria is getting rid of CRJ-200s because of the economy.

      Yes, but if JU offers better prices, than passengers from Slovenia will fly via BEG. That's the beauty of competition.

      Maybe it would work, but JU won't send their a/c on those routes. At the end, they are feeder for EY, so every flight must be to and from BEG. And I think that there is no chance they will do BEG-BNX-INI. Maybe BEG-INI-BNX-BEG? That would be interesting to see :)

      Delete
  30. Anonymous22:50

    "Is ATR42 really consuming more fuel than CRJ-200?"

    No, just the opposite, CRJ200 (0.34km/l) is a fast (850km/h), very comfortable plane but a gas guzzler comparing to ATR42-500 (0.46km/l) (500km/h).

    And if one has 36 million US$, the one can buy 3 ATR42-500 instead of 2 CRJ200. And those three ATR42-500 together will take the same quantity of fuel as those two CRJ200 together.
    So, if one has 4 ATR42-500 and some other one has 3 CRJ200, the first one has one ATR42-500 which operates for free (maintenance and fuel costs).

    BNX - INI isolated, wouldn't make do even with ATR42.


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I read incorrectly. That's why I asked. It was strange for me that ATR42 is using more fuel than CRJ-200. My bad :)

      For flights under 1.5h, I would use prop over jet in any time. I guess it's not very comfortable for passengers to fly on props longer. I know it's possible. I think B&H flew to CPH with their ATR72.

      At the end, I would love to see ATR42 with YU- registration again. She is nice looking bird. She looked great in JAT's 'egg' livery.

      Delete

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